Man admits to fatally striking 5-year-old with car, then fleeing

Mark Moran / Staff Photographer
Thomas Letteer walks to the parking garage on Water Street after leaving the Luzerne County Courthouse after a guilty plea Monday afternoon.

The grieving mother of little Kevin Miller sat in the courtroom gallery Monday and wept aloud.

Thomas Letteer Jr. admitted he struck Caroline Miller's 5-year-old boy with his car and left him behind to die on a Wilkes-Barre street.

Mr. Letteer, 23, pleaded guilty Monday afternoon to fleeing the scene of a fatal crash, a charge formally known as accidents involving death or personal injury.

The Plains Twp. man faces a mandatory minimum one year in jail, but can be sentenced to a maximum punishment of 10 years. Luzerne County Judge Joseph Sklarosky Jr. set sentencing for May 1 at 1:30 p.m.

Mr. Letteer had consistently denied being the driver, but plea negotiations ramped up recently after a ruling by Judge Sklarosky regarding evidence.

Mr. Letteer said little in court besides "yes, your honor" when asked questions about whether he understood his plea.

Following the plea Monday, prosecutors and defense attorneys said they could not comment due to a court-imposed gag order.

The guilty plea brings to end an investigation that began Dec. 21, 2012, when Kevin was fatally struck by a speeding red car at North and Franklin streets in Wilkes-Barre. After months of investigating, police accused Mr. Letteer in April of driving the car.

Kevin was crossing the street with his parents and brothers, holding his father's hand, at the time he was struck. The family had just left a Christmas party.

The guilty plea followed a recent ruling by a judge that allowed prosecutors to use incriminating statements Mr. Letteer made to police.

Two days after the crash, police interviewed Mr. Letteer outside his Plains Twp. home. According to prosecutors, Mr. Letteer told officers he was at a party in West Wyoming the night Kevin was fatally struck and went directly to his girlfriend's house in Pittston Twp. He said he was not in Wilkes-Barre that night.

The statements were important, prosecutors said, because they contradict facts later learned.

Mr. Letteer's attorneys had argued the statements should be suppressed because Mr. Letteer was not read his Miranda warnings. Prosecutors countered that no Miranda warning was necessary because Mr. Letteer was "not a suspect, nor was he subjected to custodial interrogation." prosecutors said.

The plea agreement reached Monday also calls for Mr. Letteer to pay for the cost of prosecution, which amounted to $27,549.95 for expert testing, laboratory fees and the autopsy.

Judge Sklarosky allowed Mr. Letteer to remain free on bail, but placed him under the supervision of pre-trial services.

Contact the writer: bkalinowski@citizensvoice.com

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